Former Executive Producer and writer Naren Shankar is attached to the new supernatural series Grimm. The NBC series stars Silar Weir Mitchell (“Room Service”) and Sasha Roiz (“Pool Shark”) and is scheduled to debut October 28 at 9PM.

Liz Vassey (Wendy Simms) also has something to be thankful for this TV season: her half-hour pilot has been sold. Details on the project are currently under wraps, but CSI Files wishes her all the best.

It’s been a little over a year since Liz Vassey, the actress who played the charming and vivacious Wendy Simms, was shockingly let go from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation after five years of playing the role. It was devastating news for the actress and fans alike as just prior to the dismissal, progress was being made between the D.N.A. technician and her co-worker and potential love interest David Hodges (Wallace Langham). For the first time since the unsettling news, Vassey spoke exclusively with CSI Files’ Shane Saunders to discuss the events of the past year.

CSI Files: It’s a little over a year since word got out about your departure from CSI. How are you feeling at this point in time in regards to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the situation?

Liz Vassey: Well, first of all I would say that the entire experience being there for five years was nothing short of fantastic. I think in a business that’s sort of up-and-down and start-and-stop and different as this type of business is, I think when you get five years on any show you got to be very grateful, so that’s first and foremost… and I am from the bottom of my heart.

I bumped into Wally. Wally and I are still in touch and I saw him recently and we had such a nice time. I see some of the other people from the cast and a lot of the writers and I just love them so. It’s been over a year and I still miss a lot of people on a very personal level just because it’s sort of unreal how kind that set is and how fun it is. Especially considering the subject matter. [laughs] But, it has been a year and I have done some other jobs that I’ve enjoyed and I made peace with it and I think they’ve made peace with it and I don’t bare ill will towards them. I just miss a lot of the people there.

CSI Files: And just to be clear it wasn’t your decision to leave, correct?

Vassey: No, it wasn’t my decision. I’m told that they didn’t know what to do with me creatively. I went in and I requested a meeting to find out what had happened, obviously I was pretty curious. [laughs] And I was just told they didn’t know what to do with me creatively. I have no choice but to believe them. I know it wasn’t the money because I had taken a very substantial pay cut to stay for the season prior to that, and no one approached me to talk about money or anything. I was just informed that they weren’t picking up my option. So they told me it was a creative decision and I’m gonna go with that.

CSI Files: The news leaked in sort of an interesting way in that regard via your Facebook. Did you expect it to circulate outside of your private account so soon?

Vassey: I had heard that [Michael] Ausiello had written something about it which is why I went ahead and wrote something. This is what I had heard–it was hearsay–and I actually didn’t read what he had written until days later. I wrote it just because my friends and my family. I wanted them to know all at once because it’s sort of a strange phone call to have to make. So I just did it so they can read that. I guess so people wouldn’t read it in the news without thinking I was fully aware of what happened in regards to what was going on. [laughs]

I didn’t expect it to move that fast… I never expect anything to move that fast. The news just all of a sudden with Twitter and Facebook, nothing’s a secret for very long. You know, I was surprised, but that was very stupid on my part because everything can travel that fast. I will say I’m overwhelmed by the positive response from the fans and how sweet they were about what had happened. That moved me more than they could possibly realize.

Some other writers had left and that made me a little bit queasy. So I actually called before I went on vacation to Germany with my husband–had my manager call, rather–and find out if I was coming back. And I was told I was. Then I got back three weeks later and woke up the morning we got back in the states and I got a call from my manager going “you’re not.” So, I will say that I believe sometimes you get in a situation and you’re there as long as you’re supposed to be there sort of like this big foot coming to kick you into a different part of your life. [laughs] I try to put a positive spin on things and think maybe it was just time to leave that show and move on to other things. It was handled in an odd manner, but I guess anybody would say that who has ever been let go from any job. I don’t know. It was a very difficult couple of months right after it happened.

CSI Files: There was a little bit of closure with Wendy in “Pool Shark.” What was the genesis behind wrapping up the character in such an abrupt way? Was it ever considered to maybe extend the departure over a few episodes like what occurred with Sara [Jorja Fox] or Grissom [William Petersen]?

Vassey: I was never asked. I had a meeting, I actually did ask that I got–I didn’t even ask if I could come back, I just asked that I got a nice write-off. I said out of respect to my character that I’ve played for five years and out of respect to the fans that liked the character and liked what was developing with Hodges to let me know how you are going to write me out and if you could talk to me about it. I want to make sure it was done in a respectful manner and I want to make sure that it’s not done to–like, I didn’t want to be  written out like I had gotten back together with an ex-boyfriend and Hodges was heartbroken, there has to be something a little more positive, like a [job]. So we talked about it. I got a phone call after that meeting and they said they want me to go back and do one episode. I knew it would be really hard to go do, but at the same point, considering I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be coming back, I had gone to the wrap party at the end of the season before and I never got a chance to say goodbye to people. So I wanted to go back and be able to say goodbye specifically to Wally and to a lot of the directors and writers, who I again, was so close to a lot of the people there.

CSI Files: Wendy always wanted to transfer into the field. Were you happy that she was able to reach that goal?

Vassey: Yeah, I was very happy. I was very happy that that happened. I think that the nice thing about that–and I’m not giving any hint and I don’t know a thing about it–but I think the very next thing is a certain character’s gonna be written off in a way where there’s no possibility of them ever coming back. I think if there were a chance for an episode or two and they wanted me to do it it’s kind of nice because my character got trained, I’m obviously a different person now. I think it would be interesting. And I certainly like the fact that as a character she got to be fulfilled professionally and I think there’s a sort of symmetry to the fact that Hodges kept using the lab over her and then she finally got a job and she had to choose the job over him. Y’know, it worked. I was happy with it.

CSI Files: It was certainly nice for the fans seeing you return for an episode. I think it’s fair to say many were stunned and disappointed that they weren’t bringing you back. When it was announced that you would be in “Pool Shark,” it was like a little sign of hope that maybe things would change. They obviously didn’t do so…

Vassey: Nope! They didn’t. [laughs] I don’t know… I feel like Wally and I have really great chemistry. I enjoyed every minute of screen time I had with him. I enjoyed every time I got to work with those writers. I enjoyed everybody, I was obviously very close with the lab rats. I’m not gonna lie: it would be really nice to go work with them in that capacity sometime again. It would be fun to see them again.

Having said that, it has been a year. It’s been nice. I’ve been writing a lot of things. I got to go be on Two and a Half Men for a while, I got to be on Castle, [and] I just got back last month from shooting a movie for a month. So I have moved onto other things and I’m keeping busy with them. I don’t look back, I’m not angry about it.

Yeah, like, I love that Louise [Lombard, Sofia Curtis] got to go back and shoot an episode, I think that’s great. I know she had a great time and everybody there loves her, so it was really cool. So, maybe. It’s like I said, it’s open.

[But let me just say] I was far more angry about other people being let go than myself. [laughs]

CSI Files: The news prompted a petition titled “WE WANT LIZ VASSEY IN THE 11 CSI SEASON!” on Facebook. Did the amount of support on that page ever have any impact as to the producers possibly changing their minds?

Vassey: I don’t know, because I haven’t talked to the people that are left on CSI about it, to be honest. I will say that I was in New York with my husband and my niece Kenzie, I was taking her there for her sixteenth birthday, and she saw it.  She showed it to me and we got there reading what people had written and again, I can’t say enough how grateful I am for that support. I make a practice at not looking at what people write about me online because I think it’s a very slippery slope personally. I think it can effect your work and sometimes people write things you shouldn’t read. I try to keep away, but I read that. It was nice that in the grand scheme of things I wasn’t one of the CSIs and I wasn’t carrying the show but for people to care about my character it just meant the world to me. I don’t know if any of the producers read it or it had any effect, but it did on me. It meant so much.

CSI Files: Just prior to all this, you were working pretty heavily both in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes. Not only were you promoted to series regular, but you also worked on a story for “Field Mice” with Wallace Langham. Do you think if your status remained as recurring the outcome of the situation would be different?

Vassey: Maybe. I don’t know, I just don’t know. I’ve thought about it so much from all different angles. I can say this: nobody ever asked about demoting me. When I first came on [in "Secrets and Flies"] I did ten episodes the first year, I think. I could be wrong though, it could be eight. It was somewhere in that ballpark. [laughs] But nobody ever talked to me about the possibility of coming back or something. Which, again, because I cared about these people and have had so much fun on that set, I would of done it. But it wasn’t ever discussed. I don’t know, it was very abrupt and very final.

I will say that getting to write an episode was one of my highlights of being on that show, though. It was an exceptionally fine experience getting to do that with Wally. Going on tech scouts and casting, it was fascinating and especially inspired me to write a lot more.

CSI Files: It was your first teleplay and you did a great job! It was really phenomenal.

Vassey: Thank you. Thanks a lot. I had written a couple times before; I sold two pilots that weren’t made, but it was really great to be able to sell them. Wally had done the same, so we talked about it–we hadn’t even talked about it to the producers. They approached us after doing a commentary for the DVD and they asked! They were like, “you can totally think about it if you want.” It was Naren [Shankar]. He came up and said, “do you want to write? Carol [Mendelsohn, executive producer] is on board if you are.” And we were like “nooo, we want to do it!” It was great, it was an honor to be asked.

CSI Files: If I remember correctly Naren was a big supporter of the lab rats episodes.

Vassey: Yeah, I don’t know if there’s enough words in my vocabulary to describe how much I like that man. He’s great, his wife Cheri is great, my husband and I are very close with them. He did so much for my character. For the lab techs in general, like, I don’t understand how Jon Wellner [Henry Andrew] is not a star of a comedy, I think he’s brilliant. I think every one of those rats down the line in that first show, most of us never really worked together before. I never really had a scene with Archie [Kao, Archie Johnson] before, if I did it was like one line. Sheeri Rappaport [Mandy Webster], we hadn’t worked together really. It all just clicked. I admire Naren for trusting us with that and letting us carry the show. It was so fun and we all took it so seriously. [laughs] It was great. I think the world of every one of those lab rats. They’re all incredibly talented. Even Wally. [laughs]

CSI Files: You’ve worked on a couple projects since. CBS’ Two and a Half Men, the new TV series 9ine; which I hear has been picked up for a second season, and an episode of ABC’s Castle. Was it an easy adjustment to play someone other than the charming Wendy after all five years of playing her?

Vassey: Well, the Two and a Half Men was really interesting. I had done one in the first season as a different character and I came back on to do two this past season, and I showed up and it was funny, my husband goes “Do you think they’ll remember you?” And I walk in and Charlie Sheen had watched CSI a lot. [laughs] A lot of that cast had but it was an interesting welcome, it was really fun. It was really nice to go in and come from a show that was so well regarded and highly regarded and have them welcome me like that.

I just finished a movie in Massachusetts, it’s called Broken Silence. It’s an incredibly emotional movie. I’d say that was the biggest departure because one of things about playing on CSI for five years is that you don’t display emotion a lot of the time. You’re kind of stoic and meticulous and you don’t really wear your emotions on your sleeve in that type of capacity. So going and doing this movie for a month where it was all so emotional was really different and interesting.

Playing a bad guy in Castle was also fun being on the other side of the interrogation table.

CSI Files: Was Broken Silence the film you were just working on where there was the tornado warnings?

Vassey: Oh, yeah! [laughs] I was tweeting about them because we were all scared to death. All of us were either from Boston or from L.A. So we all of a sudden had tornado watches and tornado warnings, we’re all down in the basement with a lovely group of people–great crew–certainly didn’t want to have to go through a tornado with them, but eighty of us were down in this basement. [laughs] It was actually kind of comical. Somebody was like, “get under the stairs!” and somebody else goes, “no, get in the bathtub!” I was like, “have none of you ever been through one of these before?” And everybody was like, “no!” [laughs] It was really the blind leading the blind. I texted my husband saying hey, I’m downstairs ’cause there’s a tornado coming and he thought I was kidding because they hadn’t had a tornado in Massachusetts since 1953. Very strange.

CSI Files: You mentioned earlier about working on a pilot. Is this something you’re just writing or aspiring to star in as well?

Vassey: Hopefully both. I had this idea a little bit ago and it was something that was kind of percolating for a while and I just sat down and wrote it five or six months ago. Then I got a producer attached, so I learned the joy of rewriting a lot. He’s been great, he’s been very helpful. During pilot season somebody read the pilot that I had written and she asked me to come in for a staff writing job on her show should it be picked up. I kind of stumbled into this area a little bit more. I definitely wrote it with me in mind as this character so I hope it works out. We just did our first table read and it was so much fun. It’s been great and very educational.

My husband laughed at me because I don’t sit still very well, but I can sit and write for eight or nine hours straight. He just thinks it’s the funniest damn thing.

CSI Files: One of your first major roles was starring as Emily Ann Sargo Martin in All My Children, a role which also earned you an Emmy nomination. A plethora of soap opera alumni have been invited back to reprise roles since of many daytime suds are being cancelled. Any idea if you’ll be going back for a cameo?

Vassey: No, I would go back–I would do anything on that show. They gave me my start, I was sixteen; I moved up from Tampa, Florida, I was in Hell’s Kitchen with my mom in New York from the age of sixteen to nineteen while I was on it. It was a magical part of my life. Sixteen was a while ago, so to be perfectly blunt I don’t even know producers there anymore, I don’t know a lot of the cast–of course Susan [Lucci] is still there, Michael Knight is still there. But I haven’t worked on that show in such a long time that I don’t even know if I would pull up on their radar, you know what I mean? It’s been so long.

CSI Files: You still keep in touch with Wallace and Jon, do you keep in contact with anyone else from CSI?

Vassey: Well, I just texted Marg [Helgenberger, Catherine Willows] the other day. We had a little texting conversation because she’s getting her Hollywood star, which I think is the coolest thing. Marg is everything any of her fans would want her to be. She’s so talented. We sang together for a charity event and it was just great to get to know her in that kind of context. She’s got a hell of a voice, that woman. I was in Spain on vacation with my husband and she happened to be there in the same tiny, little town on the same night. So we had dinner with her, drank red wine until way, way, way late in the evening. We had a great time. Great lady. So I still keep in touch with her. David Berman [David Phillips] is probably one of my dearest friends. He lives five minutes away from me, he’s shooting a documentary right now actually.  So he’s out of the country, it’s weird, I’m going through withdrawals because I usually see him once a week. We’re incredibly close. Still stay in touch with writers Allen MacDonald, David Rambo, Sarah Goldfinger, Naren Shankar, we’re all in constant contact, too.

CSI Files: So, should the opportunity present itself, you would be willing to go back to the Las Vegas Crime Lab, correct?

Vassey: Yeah! Honestly, I know they’re bringing on some new people, that’s been sort of publicized. [laughs] I think with everything that’s going on I don’t foresee that happening. I’m not exactly waiting for a phone call, I don’t really think that that’s going to be in the plan.  Specifically, if I got to go back and work more with Wally, I think it would be fun to go back and talk about my time in Portland as a CSI. I think it would be great to go back for a couple episodes.

CSI Files: The fans who continue to send you their support and remain hopeful for your return, what do you have to say to them?

Vassey: Oh, God. Just… thank you. This is such an odd business. My family thinks I’m half crazy for being in it in the first place. It’s a business where you hear far more “nos” than “yeses.” But ultimately, you’re doing it for the fans. You’re hoping the fans like you; they’re the ones that keep you employed and let you have your job. Being appreciated like that and having support like that is more than I can ask for. I’ve appreciated every little nice note or post that anybody has sent me. Huge thanks, love, and a lot of appreciation.

Shane Saunders is a freelance writer and reviewer. His work can be seen on EDGE Network and ShaneSSaunders.com.

Source: Deadline.com. Thanks to Shane from TalkCSI for the heads up.

Source: LA Times

The ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ Supervising Producer drops a few hints about the final two episodes of season ten in the second of our sweeps preview interviews. Spoilers inside!

With serial killer Dr. Jekyll now in possession of Langston’s badge, things are heating up on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Supervising Producer David Rambo offers a preview of what’s to come and looks back on the episodes leading up to the big finale on May 20th.

CSI Files: What’s in store for the Las Vegas CSI team in the final two episodes of the season?

David Rambo: I hate spoilers, as you know. But I can tell you that an unexpected and controversial figure from Langston’s past will appear as the team is tracking down Dr. Jekyll. The finale episode has some terrific science in it, one of the wildest and creepiest murder techniques imaginable — which is something I always enjoy!

CSI Files: What was the genesis of the Dr. Jekyll character?

Rambo: From my recollection, it was Naren Shankar who started spinning the idea of a “mad surgeon” in the writers room almost a year ago, and we all responded to it. What we liked is that this killer would have skills similar to those of Langston, and at first it would be very difficult to connect the victims. We loved the idea that the killer could or could not be Langston. Things sort of took off from there.

CSI Files: Will we learn Jekyll’s identity by the end of the season?

Rambo: Yes.

CSI Files: We’ve heard Langston himself will be a suspect in the Dr. Jekyll case. How does he find himself in this predicament?

Rambo: Remember the “means, motive and opportunity” trinity? On examination, it becomes apparent that Langston may have had all three where these victims are concerned.

CSI Files: Can you hint at the connection between Dr. Jekyll and serial killer Nate Haskell?

Rambo: One hint: red sauce.

CSI Files: Langston is a somewhat controversial figure among the fans. Why do you think he’s so polarizing?

Rambo: He’s not the first CSI character fans have held strong feelings about for and against. But, whatever the degree, any polarization is troubling to me, because I think Laurence Fishburne is a superb actor and a strong presence on the show. He stepped in when one of the most iconic figures in TV history left, and that’s a challenge for any actor facing another guy’s loyal audience. Also, because we didn’t want to just bring in a new guy and suddenly have him in charge of the team, we struggled to find his character. It all sort of happened while we were already off and running. We consulted Laurence. We tried things. Some worked, some didn’t, but I think we’ve got the character right now, and I love his interaction with the team, especially one-on-one.

CSI Files: In “Sin City Blue”, Langston didn’t want to give his DNA to Wendy (Liz Vassey) as an elimination sample. Will we find out the reason for that?

Rambo: Well, speaking hypothetically, either you’re leery of personal information ending up in a database, or you’ve got something to hide. Hmmm….

CSI Files: Will we find out more about Langston’s anger issues?

Rambo: Yes. He’s a complex character with an Achilles’ heel.

CSI Files: Nick (George Eads) and Langston have developed a pretty strong bond over the last season and a half. What is it that draws these two together?

Rambo: I think it’s mutual respect, on and off the screen. They’re great together! Real give-and-take.

CSI Files: Marg Helgenberger has gone on record saying that her contract is up at the end of the year, and she doesn’t yet have a new one. Should we be worried about Catherine Willows?

Rambo: That one’s out of my hands, but I’d personally hate to see CSI without Catherine.

CSI Files: Catherine and Detective Vartann (Alex Carter) have embarked on a romance this season. What was behind the decision to pair them together, and will we see more of their relationship before the season is done?

Rambo: It seems that every season, when we talk with the actors about where their characters could go in the coming year, the subject of Catherine having a love life comes up. Not only is Catherine a very attractive woman, Marg is an actor of tremendous range and willing to explore the emotional boundaries of a character working long hours at a potentially life-threatening job as years go by. Carol Mendelsohn came into my office one day this season and said she’d been thinking that Catherine and Vartann would make a natural couple. It sounded right to me, and to others on the staff. When Jackie Hoyt ran it by Marg before starting “Sin City Blue,” she loved the idea. As to how much of the love life we get to see, we have to remember that the show’s about crime scene investigations, but I don’t expect a flame that hot to flicker out quickly.

CSI Files: Jorja Fox has been in quite a few episodes this season. Any chance Sara Sidle will be back in the lab full time next season?

Rambo: I don’t know the answer to that one. But hasn’t it been great to see her back this season?

CSI Files: Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) was expressing job frustration earlier in the season over his case assignments. Is he still feeling dissatisfied, or has that passed?

Rambo: I’d like to think that over the course of the season, Greg discovered that the team does respect him. He’s worked with everyone, and shown he’s as capable as any of them. I think Greg loves his job, and knows that this is the best place he could be. By the way, Eric and I really had fun filming “Take My Life, Please” at the end of the season. He so admired Tim Conway and Jennifer Tilly, and the humor in that silly case I wrote.

CSI Files: Wendy finally made a move on Hodges (Wallace Langham) in “Field Mice”! What’s in store for our favorite lab rats?

Rambo: I hate to be cagey here, but with those two anything could happen. They’re so brilliant, yet utterly awkward. You just know that deep down each of them thinks they’re smarter than the other. And they are.

CSI Files: Of all the CSIs on the show, which one do you think has changed the most in the seven years you’ve been with CSI?

Rambo: Great question. They’ve all developed and grown. I’d have to say, though, that Nick is the one who’s come the greatest distance. He’s confronted fears, ghosts, and torture and come through it stronger and more compassionate. He’s a leader who knows how to listen, and a follower who knows how to speak up.

CSI Files: Have there been any discussions about season 11 in the writers’ room? Do you know how the cliffhanger will be wrapped up?

Rambo: You really want me to spill all the secrets, don’t you? I can’t do that. Look, we’ve just managed to craft a tenth season of this show. When I think of what it takes to create just one episode, then a season — it boggles the mind to think it’s been going on for ten years. I hope the fans appreciate that without Carol Mendelsohn, there wouldn’t have been ten years. She’s the constant. And she is simply amazing. She loves the show, and never, ever stops coming up with ideas. She asks everyone to take a good idea farther, take a good script deeper, dare to think bigger, scarier, funnier; to go where we haven’t gone before. You have no idea how generous and tireless she is. She has ideas for Season 11, and there are a lot of variables that have to fall into place, but I can promise you it will be another season that you won’t want to miss.

Insight’s goal is to “help apply the best development and writing practices to the creation of fiction programmes generated locally in different territories. Shows will be developed domestically and with a view to the international market.” The members of the advisory board will share their knowledge and experience with their international counterparts.

Source: C21Media

The CSI Producer discusses the big crossover, what’s coming up in the remaining sweeps episodes of CSI and the return of a memorable nemesis. Lights spoilers inside!

November sweeps has already seen the historic first three CSI show crossover, but there’s more excitement to come, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Producer Allen MacDonald promises. In addition to teasing the episode he’s at work on now–which brings back a familiar face–MacDonald discusses the return of Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), the departure of Lauren Lee Smith and Nick Stokes’ (George Eads) promotion.

CSI Files: The three-show crossover scored big in the ratings last week. How did the plans for the trilogy originate?

Allen MacDonald: It all started with [Executive Producer] Carol Mendelsohn.  It’s something she’s been wanting to do for some time now.

CSI Files: Was the crossover tricky to pull off?

MacDonald: It was just a matter of scheduling on the part of all three shows.

CSI Files: How was Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) chosen to be the character to tie it all together?

MacDonald: Laurence and David Caruso (Horatio Caine) have worked together in features and very much wanted to work together again.  After that, it just snowballed. It was quite a kick to watch Langston interact on-screen with Horatio Caine and Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise).

CSI Files: What else can we expect from sweeps?

MacDonald: A Dustin Lee Abraham episode involving the world of professional bowling and a decapitated human head bowling ball. Intrigued?  Believe me, by the time teaser is over, you’ll be hooked.  It’s gross – but in a fun way.

CSI Files: Bringing in a new leading man after eight and a half seasons is obviously a big challenge. What do you feel was the most difficult thing about the transition from Gil Grissom (William Petersen) to Langston?

MacDonald: Just simultaneously having to do two very important things at the same time: giving Grissom the emotionally satisfying send-off he deserves while simultaneously setting up Langston, and making him a unique, compelling character in his own right, instead of trying to simply recreate Grissom.

CSI Files: Langston’s father seems to loom large in his mind. Are there plans to see him at some point?

MacDonald: Not that I know of — the character is dead and there are no plans to depict him in flashbacks.

CSI Files: Sara Sidle sure is spending a lot of time away from her new husband! Are we meant to read anything into that?

MacDonald: I think it’s always been clear Grissom and Sara would have a non-traditional approach to marriage.

CSI Files: What was behind the decision to have Sara and Grissom marry?

MacDonald: We felt it was a natural conclusion to where we left them both at the end of “One to Go” in the rainforest of Costa Rica.

CSI Files: What was behind the decision to promote Nick Stokes?

MacDonald: To recognize his huge contribution to the team and his growth as an emerging leader.  Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) needed somebody to back her up and Nick seemed like the natural choice.

CSI Files: Nick and Langston seem to be developing a friendship. Will we see more of this?

MacDonald: Absolutely.  They’re getting to know and trust each other.

CSI Files: Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) is expressing a little job dissatisfaction this season with regards to the assignments he’s getting. What’s behind Greg’s disgruntled attitude?

MacDonald: It’s like he said to Sara in the premiere, he still feels he’s being treated like the geeky DNA lab tech when, in fact, he’s matured into a seasoned CSI capable of handling anything thrown his way.

CSI Files: We’ve seen a bit more of Catherine in the leadership role this season. Will this continue?

MacDonald: Yes.

CSI Files: Is there any official word on the reason why Lauren Lee Smith (Riley Adams) didn’t return for the tenth season?

MacDonald: From what I understand, it was felt Riley never quite gelled with the rest of the team because she was introduced at a pivotal point in CSI’s history – two episodes after Warrick’s (Gary Dourdan) death and seven episodes before Grissom’s departure.  As a result, the character got a bit lost in the shuffle, which is not a reflection on Lauren, who is a spectacular actress and was much-loved on the set.

CSI Files: Are there any plans for another Lab Rats episode this season?

MacDonald: Yes.  It’s going to be written by Liz Vassey (Wendy Simms) and Wallace Langham (David Hodges), who are working on it with [Executive Producer] Naren Shankar right now.

CSI Files: Are you at work on a new episode now? Can you hint at what it might be about?

MacDonald: I am.  And the only hint I can provide is that it would be the completion of a CSI storyline trilogy involving Sara Sidle and a very, very smart young girl.

The Vegas team tracks a killer… while the audience watches him go about his daily business at work and try to elude capture.

Synopsis:

The audience witnesses Paulie Krill, an office drone in the support ops department for the Tangiers, kill a man in the woods and then sees him go to work the next day, while the CSIs are called in to investigate the case. In the morgue, Doc Robbins concludes that the unidentified man was killed by several blows to the head. He also finds lacerations on the victim’s wrist, indicating that someone was trying to remove something from inside it. Catherine recovers a subcutaneous ID used by some trendy clubs as a way to gain admittance. The story flashes back to five weeks ago when the victim–a suave IT guy named Jason Deveraux shows his co-workers, including Paulie and a pretty woman named Belinda–how the device in his wrist works as a security key. In the present, Paulie’s sleazy boss hits on Belinda and Paulie defends her, impressing the young woman. In the lab, Hodges examines the murder weapon–a thick piece of metal–and posits that it may have been a piece of something that was destroyed by a pipe bomb. Catherine gets an ID off the implanted chip: Jason Deveraux. Nick and Greg find his car abandoned outside of his apartment building. While Brass questions Jason’s co-workers at the Tangiers support department, Nick and Langston go over Jason’s workspace and find it’s set up to remotely access his laptop. Brass speaks with Belinda, who placed frequent calls to Jason in the evenings, and Paulie, who openly admits he didn’t like Jason. The team also discovers Jason was accessing the computer information of several of his co-workers.

The team traces Jason’s stolen computer to a hapless neighbor, who claims he found Jason’s door wide open. Hodges finds RDX trace laced in the fingerprint on the metal murder weapon, indicating an explosive was used. The story flashes back to three weeks ago, when Jason approached Paulie to be his partner in crime on a plan to blow up a safe full of money at work and make off with the cash. In the present, the CSIs discover Jason had a penchant for blowing things up as a child–and also had an uncle at a mining company. A flashback to ten days ago reveals Jason showing Paulie the safe, his way in and the escape route–a dusty crawl way which Jason convinces Paulie to get in–and then pranks him. In the present, Paulie sees Jason’s mom visit the office to clean out Jason’s things and offers to help her. The CSIs learn another piece of metal has been found near the scene–this one with blood and a serial number on it. DNA in Jason’s bed links him to Belinda, and Brass finds her with Paulie when he goes to bring her in for questioning. Paulie covertly drops a flash drive with security codes that belonged to Jason in Belinda’s purse. Belinda admits to having a fling with the charming IT tech, but vehemently denies killing Jason.  The team learns from the serial number on the metal that it was a part of a safe, and traces it to Paulie Krill and puts an APB out for him. The final flashback takes place two nights ago, when Paulie told Jason he couldn’t go through with their plan to blow up the safe at the Tangiers and steal the money. Jason berated him, calling him “empty space” and Paulie killed him in a rage. In the present, the team rushes to the Tangiers support ops office… just in time to witness Paulie detonate his bomb. The safe explodes, the money showers down–and a piece of the safe slams into Paulie, slicing into him and trapping him. “I knew it would work,” he says, just before he dies.

Analysis:

With three CSI shows and a combined twenty-one seasons between them (not even counting the three current seasons), novel ideas are getting harder and harder to find. The concept of revealing the killer to the audience at the outset and watching as he or she tries to elude justice has been used before, but it’s a fun game-changer and works pretty effectively here. Tim Blake Nelson, best known for film roles such as O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Minority Report, is very effective as the disgruntled Paulie Krill. He’s by turns creepy and sinister, and though the audience never goes quite so far as to root for him, Nelson does a great job of conveying Paulie’s grim glee at the end of the episode when Paulie does indeed bust open the safe and sees his perfect escape… which is denied to him thanks to the laws of physics and downright rotten luck, which sends a huge piece of the safe careening into him.

Though Paulie might at first seem to be somewhat of a downtrodden office worker cliche–think the serious version of The Office‘s Dwight–writer (and director) Naren Shankar puts a small but key moment in the episode that proves that Paulie is much more cunning and ruthless than he first seems. Sure, he kills Jason in a fit of rage and then presses forward with Jason’s plan, but his true devious side comes out when he slips Jason’s flash drive in Belinda’s purse. Before that moment, it seemed like Paulie was pretty smitten with Belinda–to the point that it initially seemed like his motive for killing Jason could have been jealousy. The first flashback shows Paulie longing after Belinda… as she flirts with smooth player type Jason. And the moment before Paulie slipped the drive in Belinda’s purse, she was suggesting they go get a drink, hinting that–at least in Paulie’s eyes–he may have had a shot with her. The move even more than the murder (which seems like an act of rage rather than premeditation) paints Paulie as a cunning sociopath rather than an accidental killer.

Indeed, the murder seems to bring out Paulie’s dark side. He flatly asks Belinda early in the episode, after a run in with their scuzzy supervisor Terrence–played with aplomb by Wayne Knight–if she doesn’t think “some people would be better off dead?” Later, when Jason’s forlorn mother comes to clean out his desk, Paulie doesn’t avoid her; rather, he approaches her, offering her his condolences and his help with packing up Jason’s things. No, Paulie is not a killer with a conscious–he’s a sleeper sociopath who was spurred into action by Jason’s plan and then his putdowns. Once Paulie commits to evil by killing Jason, he’s in it to win. And he almost does–the fantasy plays out in Paulie’s mind even as he expires, saying with no small amount of pride, “I knew it would work.”

The potential for violence within is mirrored in a brief scene in which Langston tests his own DNA for monoamine oxidase A–a gene that Wendy points out has been linked to violent behavior. Langston gets mad when she brings this up, pointing out that it’s genetics, not a certainty. Langston talked a bit about his father’s violent behavior in last week’s “Ghost Town” and in the premiere, “Family Affair” was bothered by the fact that he didn’t feel worse about shooting and killing Walter Ellis at the end of “All In”. That shooting, and his lack of remorse over it, is clearly weighing on Langston and causing him to wonder if he’s more like his father than he wants to believe he is. I suppose Langston having the genetic predisposition for violence is an interesting question, but I find myself more curious about why his mother’s name was left blank on the DNA profile he was examining. Was he simply only curious about a connection on his father’s side, or does it mean more? Is it possible that Langston doesn’t know his mother?

While the gimmick is fun and presents a different perspective, it’s hard not to notice that the main characters, save for Langston, are a bit lost in the shuffle. This episode is largely carried by the guest stars, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when the likes of Nelson and Knight are making appearances, but doesn’t exactly satisfy viewers hungry for development for their favorite characters. Sara doesn’t show up this time around; it probably would have been a waste of one of Jorja Fox‘s five contracted episodes to use her in this plot-heavy entry. But the show still feels somewhat in flux, missing an anchor somehow. It’s hard to lose a lead, and though William Petersen was a low key presence, he was definitely a strong one. Laurence Fishburne has a similar energy, intense but understated, and he’s a worthy new lead. But I find myself less interested in some fancy DNA explanation for what might make him angry or violent than I do about, say, the lingering feelings and wariness he might have from working alongside an Angel of Death (which does get alluded to here). “Family Affair” hearkened a return to a stronger cohesiveness among the team, and although change like that can’t come overnight, let’s hope it does come sooner, rather than later.